Athletic Older Adults and COVID-19 Pandemic: Understanding Lived Experience of Athletic Older Adults in Tehran (a phenomenological approach)

Objectives: Epidemics create a lot of social and behavioral changes in all areas, sport is no exception. The aim of this study is understanding lived experience of athletic older adults in Tehran from COVID-19 pandemic. Methods and Materials: The research was carried out by the qualitative method and through a phenomenological approach. The participants were 16 Athletic older adults in Tehran that were selected from the purposeful sampling. Through deep and unstructured interviews, data were collected. data were analyzed by using the seven-step Diekelman`s (1993) approach. Results: According to the data analysis, four categories of meanings were identified about the lived experience of athletic older adults in Tehran from the COVID-19 pandemic. They are: a) experiences of psychosocial isolation and Thinking about death, b) marginalization of older adultchr('39')s sports, c) mood swings and changes in lifestyle, d) find opportunities for sport activism. Conclusion: These concepts of experience in the life-world of athletic older adults in Tehran from COVID-19 pandemic are Constitutions of their social action. In the case of proper analysis and application, they can be helpful in better managing Professional sport in Epidemics situations.